Thiago Alcantara fired a Liverpool warning

The big-money summer signing shouldn’t expect an automatic starting berth and will have to prove his worth at Liverpool.

John Barnes believes Thiago Alcantara wasn’t even one of the first three midfield options at Liverpool before his injury and warned he can’t expect to walk right into the line-up.

The Spain international completed a €22m transfer from Bayern Munich in September and made a great impression in his first outings for Liverpool until he contracted COVID-19 and later suffered a knee injury.

Jurgen Klopp, however, expects to welcome Thiago back soon. The Reds boss has suffered several injury setbacks already this season and will be glad to see the midfielder return possibly by this week.

But while Thiago’s comeback would be a boost, Barnes doesn’t expect him to be made an automatic starter.

“When you are playing regularly that is when you can cement your position within the team, but, due to injuries, Thiago hasn’t been able to do that and played only a handful of games,” the former Liverpool winger told BonusCodeBets.

“He will be in contention to play, depending on the game. If Liverpool are facing opposition who defend in numbers and defend deep, then Thiago is the man who can create something from nothing.

“He is not necessarily one of the first names in the midfield three even before he was injured.

“It is the same with Diogo Jota, both players are giving Liverpool options and have the same quality as the other players but are not certainties to start each week.

“Jota has scored so many goals since he joined, and he doesn’t start all the time. It is not a question of playing well it is all about the balance of the team, who compliments who.”